Evaluation of a Flexible and Integrative Psychiatric Care Model at the Pfalzklinikum (EVA_Pfalz)

NCT ID: NCT05181982

Last Updated: 2025-08-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Total Enrollment: 10000 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2026-07-31

Brief Summary

This study is an evaluation of the flexible and integrative psychiatric care model (according to § 64b of the German Social Code Book V (SGB V)) (FIT) at the Pfalzklinikum. The central concern of this evaluation is to answer the question whether the FIT model offer advantages over standard care. The orientation of model care is a more cross-sectoral provision of services through more flexible treatment intensities.

Detailed Description

The introduction of Section 64b SGB V created the possibility of agreeing so-called FIT model projects for the further development of care for mentally ill people. The objective is to improve cross-sectoral care or optimize patient care. More than 20 statutory health insurance (SHI) funds have developed a FIT model project at the Pfalzklinikum in Germany targeting children, youth and adults. By now, this is the largest FIT project within Germany and the only one in the German Federal State Rheinland-Pfalz. There are more 22 FIT projects at German psychiatric hospitals by December 2021. This FIT project started on 01 January 2020 with an initial duration of eight years.

The goal of the contract is the implementation and further development of improved patient care within the framework of a global treatment budget. To optimize care, "Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)" was introduced as treatment in the patient's environment (home). ACT aims to strengthen patient care, especially in outreach treatment (home treatment), and gives treatment providers more flexibility to adapt the type, duration and intensity of treatment to the patient's needs. Furthermore, the model project aims at a continuous treatment and stabilization of the patients in consideration of their social and professional environment, the creation of a continuity of treatment, the increase of the acceptance of the patient-oriented, psychotherapeutic and sociotherapeutic interventions. Furthermore, the change in financing in the form of a global treatment budget should lead to a more effective use of financial resources.

In accordance with § 65 SGB V, all model projects under § 64b SGB V, must be scientifically evaluated by an independent expert (expert team). Eighteen of the 22 FIT projects are under evaluation with a similar study design elsewhere (Neumann et al., 2018), while for the evaluation of another FIT project a slightly adopted design with a multi-methods approach is used (Neumann et al., 2021). The aim of this evaluation is to examine the achievement of the objectives of the FIT model project based on anonymized claims data (March et al, 2020). The main goals of the model project are to shorten the duration of inpatient stays while intensifying day care and / or outpatient forms of treatment, decrease sick leave days, increase treatment continuity, reduce inpatient readmission rate and not to deteriorate further disease- and care-related aspects, such as disease progression or comorbidities. In addition, the total costs of the FIT model care should not exceed those of the standard care or, at a maximum of the same costs, better results should be achieved. However, it is expected that some costs will increase (e.g. outpatient care) while other costs will decrease (e.g. inpatient care) .

The effectiveness, costs, and cost-effectiveness of the FIT model hospital compared to standard care are to be examined. The study presented here is a controlled cohort study utilizing anonymous claims data. The controlled design is based on the fact that information of patients from the intervention hospital, the Pfalzklinikum, is compared to information of comparable patients from structurally similar psychiatric hospitals in the same federal state (Petzold et al, 2019).

Conditions

Mental Health Care

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Intervention Group

Patients being treated at the FIT hospital (Pfalzklinikum) between January 2020 and December 2023

FIT contract with global treatment budget

Intervention Type: OTHER

Several SHI funds have established a contract (duration = at least eight year) with the model hospital for an alternative remuneration / financing of patients treated in the model hospital (FIT hospital, Pfalzklinikum). This contract encourages the model hospital an alternative treatment of their patients (insured with the involved SHI funds), for example fewer inpatient and more outpatient treatment. The contract is based on a global treatment budget (pre-defined fix budget for a specified number of patients independent from the setting of treatment in the hospital).

Control group

Patients being treated in standard care (control hospitals) in the German federal state Rheinland-Pfalz

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

FIT contract with global treatment budget

Several SHI funds have established a contract (duration = at least eight year) with the model hospital for an alternative remuneration / financing of patients treated in the model hospital (FIT hospital, Pfalzklinikum). This contract encourages the model hospital an alternative treatment of their patients (insured with the involved SHI funds), for example fewer inpatient and more outpatient treatment. The contract is based on a global treatment budget (pre-defined fix budget for a specified number of patients independent from the setting of treatment in the hospital).

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• treatment at the Pfalzklinikum or control hospital after 01.01.2020 (date included) and before 31.12.2023 (date included) with one of the following diagnoses as main diagnosis (ICD-10: F00, F01, F02, F03, F07, F10, F20-29, F30-39, F43, F45, F40-48, F50, F60.31, F70-79, F84, F90-F98, B22 & F02.8, G20.0 & F02.3, G30.0 & F00.0, G30.1 & F00.1) at the department of psychiatry (FA 29xx), department of child and adolescent psychiatry (F30xx) or department of psychosomatic/psychotherapy (FA31xx)
• being insured with any of the participating SHI funds

Exclusion Criteria

• less than one year follow-up data available
• non-permanent residence in Germany during observation period

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

ISMG, Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Scientific Institute for Health Economics and Health System Research, Leipzig (WIG2)

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Technische Universität Dresden

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Anne Neumann

Principle Investigator, Head of Mental Health Services Research, PhD

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Anne Neumann, Dr.

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

Center For Evidence-Based Healthcare (ZEGV), Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

Locations

Center For Evidence-Based Healthcare, Technische Universität Dresden

Dresden, , Germany

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Germany

Central Contacts

Anne Neumann, Dr.

Role: CONTACT

Anne.Neumann@uniklinikum-dresden.de

+49 (0)351 458 5634

Facility Contacts

Anne Neumann, Dr.

Role: primary

Anne.Neumann@uniklinikum-dresden.de

References

Grossimlinghaus I, Falkai P, Gaebel W, Janssen B, Reich-Erkelenz D, Wobrock T, Zielasek J. [Developmental process of DGPPN quality indicators]. Nervenarzt. 2013 Mar;84(3):350-65. doi: 10.1007/s00115-012-3705-4. German.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 23494246 (View on PubMed)

Quan H, Sundararajan V, Halfon P, Fong A, Burnand B, Luthi JC, Saunders LD, Beck CA, Feasby TE, Ghali WA. Coding algorithms for defining comorbidities in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 administrative data. Med Care. 2005 Nov;43(11):1130-9. doi: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000182534.19832.83.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 16224307 (View on PubMed)

Petzold T, Neumann A, Seifert M, Kuster D, Pfennig A, Weiss J, Hackl D, Swart E, Schmitt J. [Identification of Control Hospitals for the Implementation of the Nationwide and Standardized Evaluation of Model Projects According to section sign 64b SGB V: Analysis of Data from Structured Quality Reports]. Gesundheitswesen. 2019 Jan;81(1):63-71. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-116436. Epub 2016 Nov 15. German.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 27846670 (View on PubMed)

March S, Zimmermann L, Kubat D, Neumann A, Schmitt J, Baum F, Schoffer O, Arnold K, Seifert M, Kliemt R, Hackl D, Pfennig A, Swart E. [Methodological Challenges when Using Claims Data of more than 70 Statutory Health Insurances - A Progress Report from the EVA64 Study]. Gesundheitswesen. 2020 Mar;82(S 01):S4-S12. doi: 10.1055/a-1036-6364. Epub 2020 Jan 21. German.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 31962364 (View on PubMed)

Neumann A, Swart E, Hackl D, Kliemt R, March S, Kuster D, Arnold K, Petzold T, Baum F, Seifert M, Weiss J, Pfennig A, Schmitt J. The influence of cross-sectoral treatment models on patients with mental disorders in Germany: study protocol of a nationwide long-term evaluation study (EVA64). BMC Psychiatry. 2018 May 18;18(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1721-z.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29776348 (View on PubMed)

Neumann A, Hense H, Baum F, Kliemt R, Seifert M, Harst L, Kubat D, Maicher B, Schrey C, Schmitt J, Pfennig A, Weinhold I, Swart E, Soltmann B. Evaluation of a flexible and integrative psychiatric care model in a department of child and adolescent psychiatry in Tubingen, Germany: study protocol (EVA_TIBAS). BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Nov 22;21(1):1262. doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-07226-1.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 34802427 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

EVA_Pfalz

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id